1.1: What Does it Mean to Pivot?

How can Christian leaders help their congregations and organizations respond to times of chaos and crisis–faithfully and effectively?

Meet Your Hosts

  • Terri Elton

    Terri is a teacher who loves Jesus and God’s world. She currently is a Professor of Leadership and Dean of Academic Affairs at Luther Seminary, but has also served in congregations and non-profit settings. In her free time, Terri loves to bike and explore nature. She, along with her husband Eric, believes the world is interesting and together they travel to different cultures and places as often as they can.

  • Louise Johnson

    Pastor Louise N. Johnson serves as the assistant to the presiding bishop/executive for administration of the ELCA. Prior to her work with the ELCA, she served as a director for LEAD, a leadership development nonprofit. Pastor Johnson also served as the fourteenth president of Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, where she led the seminary to its largest fundraising and enrollment years in the history of the school. Pastor Johnson has served in a variety of roles at Wartburg, as well as the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. She has served congregations as both a pastor and a youth ministry worker. Pastor Johnson is a native of Akron, Ohio, and attended Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. She earned a Master of Divinity from Wartburg Seminary in 1999. She has a Certificate in Leadership and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She continues to teach, speak and consult in change leadership in church organizations.

  • Scott Cormode

    Scott Cormode is Hugh De Pree Professor of Leadership Development at Fuller, and previously also served as academic dean and as director of innovation. He founded the Academy of Religious Leadership, an organization for professors who teach leadership in seminaries, and its Journal of Religious Leadership. Author of the book Making Spiritual Sense: Theological Interpretation as Christian Leadership, Cormode has also published numerous articles on leadership, organization, and technology. He maintains case studies and other resources on leadership.fuller.edu, a website for developing Christian leaders.

    This faculty chair was established by the family of the late Hugh De Pree, an accomplished leader and brother of longtime Fuller board member Max De Pree, in order to further develop leadership training programs within the School of Theology and the De Pree Leadership Center.

    Cormode brought significant leadership and teaching experience to this position, as an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) who served for the previous decade as George Butler Associate Professor of Church Administration and Finance at Claremont School of Theology. Cormode also served at Claremont as associate dean for institutional research, chair of the Curriculum Committee, chair of the Accreditation Team, and principal writer of the Long Range Planning Committee.